Ghana must develop its own pipeline to transport gas – Prof Gyan-Baffuor

Minister for Planning, Prof. George Gyan-Baffour says it is of great importance that Ghana expedites the processes needed to build its own gas pipelines.

According to him, such infrastructure will reduce Ghana’s dependence on the West African Gas Pipeline, which is currently used to transport gas from Nigeria to Ghana.

His comments follow recent negotiations between Ghana and the West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAPCo), as well as the West African Gas Pipeline Authority (WAGPA) to reduce the cost of gas transported to Ghana.

Commenting on the matter, Professor Gyan-Baffour stated that locally owned gas pipelines will in the long-run influence the cost of gas, which will eventually impact the cost of power to Ghanaians.

“A lot of people are thinking that yes in the short term Ghana should get the cost of gas transported via the West African Gas Pipeline reduced. But in the long run we may have to have our own gas pipeline, to ensure that we don’t have to rely so much on their gas pipeline.”

He added that the time for the pipeline is now—since further delays will cost the country.

“We need it very quickly. When we have our own gas and maybe we want to move it from the western part to the eastern part of the country, you can do that at will without having to depend on somebody’s pipeline. In the long run my view is that we need to have our own parallel gas pipeline to ensure that there is continuous flow.”